Foldable wheeled golf club carrier



Feb. 26, 1957' P. E". STRATTON, JR 2,733,054 FOLDABLE WHEELEDYGOLF cws CARRIER Filed Nov. 27, 1953 Y 11 Sheets-Sheet 1 P. E. STRATTON, JR

Fgb. 26,1957

Filed Nov. 27, 1953 Feb. 26, 1957 EgmATTON', JR 2,783,054

FOLDABLE' WHEELED GOLF cws CARRIER Filed Nov. 27, 1953' 11 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR. PA L. E. S' RAT-rON J12.

Feb. 26, 1957 P. E. STRATTON, JR

FOLDABLE WHEELED GOLF CLUB CARRIER Filed Nov. 27, 1953 11 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

F Aul STRRTTON JR Maw Feb. 26, 1957 P. E. STRATTON, JR

FOLDABLE WHEELED cow CLUB GARRIER ll Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 27, 1953 x m m m a/zwk Feb. 26, 1957 P. E. STRATTON, JR ,7

FOLDABLE WREELRD com" CLUB CARRIER I Filed Nov. 27, 1955 11 Sheets-Sheet 6 IN V EN TOR.

PAUL E. STRHTT'ON JR. BY

Feb. 26, 1957 P. E. STRATTON; JR

FOLDABLE WHEELED GOLF CLUB CARRIER Filed Nov. 27, 1953 11 Sheets-Sheet 7 m m m m PM. E. Srmmm J'R. BY

Feb. 26, 1957 P. E. STRATTON, JR 3,

FOLDABLE WHEELED GOLF CLUB CARRIER Filed Nov. 27, 1953 11 Sheets-Sheet 9 Fla. I?

IN VEN TOR.

PAUL E. 'STRR-P-r-QN ATR.

Feb. 26, 1957 p. STRATTQN, JR 2,783,054

FOLDABLE WHEELED GOLF CLUB CARRIER Fil ed Nov. 27, 1953 11 Sheets-Sheet 10 INVENTOR. I AUL E. STRATTON JE- Feb. 26, 1957 P. E. STRATTON, JR 2,783,054

\ FOLDABLE WHEELED GOLF CLUB CARRIER Filed Nov. 27, 1953 11 Sheets-Sheet 11 INVENTOR.

Pam. E. STRATTQN JRv Unit S a tito FOLDABLE WHEELED GOLF CLUB CARRIER Paul E. Stratton, J12, St. Clair Shores, Mich., assignor to Carr Industries, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application November 27, 1953, Serial No. 334,823

Claims. (Cl. 280-42) This invention relates to a golf club carrier, and more particularly to a carrier mounted on wheels for directly receiving and carrying the golf clubs.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a unitary substantially rigid carrier construction made of fiber glass or similar material.

It is the further object of the invention to provide a novel golf club carrier which in addition to providing a support and storage for golf clubs is so formed as to provide additional storage compartments for other articles, such as golf balls, sweaters, shoes, etc.

it is the further object of the present construction to provide a novel and simplified carrier device for golf clubs, which may be collapsed to occupy a minimum of A space, and which is inexpensive to manufacture and which is substantially indestructible.

These and other objects will be seen from the following specification and claims in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of the golf club carrier.

Fig. 2 is a rear perspective view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front perspective view similar to Fig. 1 and showing the use of a cover therefor.

Fig. 4 is an elevational section of the present carrier.

Fig. 5 is a right side elevational view thereof.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section taken on line 6--6 of Fig. 4.

Fig. line 7-7 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a similar view showing a slightly different form of club compartment construction.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the golf ball securing rack for said carrier.

Fig. 10 is a bottom plan view thereof.

Fig. 11 is a left end elevational view thereof. 7

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the lower portion of the carrier illustrating the construction of the foot.

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the foot.

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the foot mounting plate taken on line 1414' of Fig. 12.

Fig. 15 is a fragmentary view taken on line 15-15 of Fig. 13. V

Fig. 16 is a fragmentary elevational section of the central portion of the bag illustrating the formation of the storage compartments and the closures therefor.

Fig. 17 is a side elevational view of one of the closure clasps shown in Fig. 16, but on a larger scale.

Fig. 18 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 1818 of Fig. 4, illustrating the handle mounting.

Fig. 19 is a side view of the mounting bracket thereof.

Fig. 20 is a top plan view of the handle mounting thereof.

Fig. 21 is a left side elevational view of the structure shown in Fig. 19.

7 is a fragmentary section at full scale taken on "ice Fig. 22 is a fragmentary View illustrating the carrier wheel mounting when in use; and

Fig. 23 is a similar view with the wheel mounting collapsed.

It will be understood that the above drawings illustrate merely a preferred embodiment of the invention, and that other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the claims hereafter set forth.

Referring to the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate the over-all golf club carrier, which in the preferred embodiment is constructed of fiber glass, though it is contemplated that other materials could be employed well within the scope of the present invention and the claims hereafter set forth.

The carrier includes an' elongated hollowed out front body element 11 and secured within the continuous marginal flange 13 thereof the corresponding marginal edge of the elongated hollowed out rear body element 12 to thus complete the main enclosure of the carrier. The front body element is formed outwardly as at 14, and is gradually tapered downwardly and inwardly as indicated at 15.

The cover 16, formed to correspond to the contour of the front body element, is hinged thereto at 17 and has a latch release button 18 at its upper end whereby the said cover 16 may be manually turned outwardly providing access to the storage space in body element 11, bounded by the partitions 49 and 50 shown in Fig. 16.

Upon the upper end of the assembled body elements is a formed body enclosing member 19, which is suitably secured over the upper open end of the body and which has a substantially rectangular opening 20 to provide access to the storage space within the container.

A plurality of fasteners 21 project from element 19 upon its opposite sides adapted to cooperatively receive the snaps 22 in the molding of the carrier cover 23, as shown in Fig. 3.

. The rear bodyelement 12, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, includes the outwardlyprojecting hollow formation 24, whose lower end is curved as at 25 to merge with the bounding edge of the body element 12, which is received within the flange 13 or marginal edge of front body element 11.

As fragmentarily illustrated in Figs. 22 and 23, the lower portion of the rear body element 12, as also indicated in Fig. 2, is so formed at 26' as to receive and suitably retain the axle mounting tube 26 into which are slidably positioned the wheel mounting shafts 27 of the carrier wheels 28.

Fig. 22 shows the relative position of the shaft 27 when the carrier is in use, and Fig. 23 illustrates the collapsed position thereof, so that the present carrier may be stored in the minimum space.

Mounted upon the upper end of rear body element 12 adjacent its upper end is the mounting bracket 29 secured as at 30, which bracket has an outwardly projecting disc 35 serrated at 36 for cooperative gripping engagement with corresponding serrations 37 on the handle mounting plate 31. Said latter plate is pivotally joined to disc 35 by the bolt 32 and the wing nut 40 shown in Fig. 18.

Plate 31 is threaded at 38 to cooperatively receive the end of the handle 33, which has a hand grip 34 at its outer end. By virtue of the serrations 36 and 37, and the wing nut 40, the handle 33 may be downwardly collapsed into substantial alignment, with body element 12 as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4.

As shown in Fig. 18, the bracket element 35 and the handle plate 31 are transversely apertured at 41 and 42 respectively to receive the pivot bolt 32.

As shown in Figs..2, 4 and 16, there is a cover 43, which is hollow and formed outwardly to correspond to the shape of the enlarged lower portion of body element 12 and is hinged thereto at 44 at its lower end, the upper end having a release button 45 for disengaging the catch 46 from the catch plate 47, illustrated in Figs. 16 and 17, and by which access to the storage compartment bounded by partition 48 may be obtained.

As shown in Figs. 1, 4, and l2-l5, there is provided at the lower end of the front body element 11 of the present carrier a foot or rest 51, whose outer transversely arranged end 52 engages the ground and cooperates with the wheels 28 for supporting the carrier in the upright position shown in Fig. 1.

The inner end'of the foot 51 is bifurcated at 53 and has the cylindrical hinge formations 54 which cooperatively nest within the corresponding slots 55 between the hinge elements 58 on plate 56, which is secured to the undersurface of the carrier as by the fasteners 57, there being a suitable hinge pin 59 whereby the foot 51 is pivotally mounted as shown. The spring clip 60 shown in Figs. 12 and 15 is suitably secured to a portion of the carrier body at 61 and retainingly engages the inturned flange 62 forming a part of the foot 51 for securing the foot in the open position shown in Fig. 12.

A second clip 63 is secured adjacent the lower end of the portion 25 of the rear body element 12 and retains the foot 51 in the folded position shown in Figs. 4 and 12.

Within the body elements 11 and 12 and extending substantially throughout the length thereof, are provided a series of upright elongated golf club receiving compartments 68 defined by the formed partition elements, generally indicated at 64 in Fig. 7, which is a section on line 7-7 of Fig. 4. v

Compartments 68 are defined by a pair of oppositely arranged partition elements 65 and 66 which have oppositely arranged outwardly projecting hairpin formations 6967 of U-shape with central bounding wall portions 70 to thereby define along with the interior wall portion of the corresponding body elements 11 and 12, the series of elongated upright compartments 68.

The partition elements 65 and 66 extend substantially throughout the length of the body, rest upon the interior bottom wall thereof and at their upper ends extend to the inclined apertured wall portion 39 of the cap 19, as indicated in Figs. 4 and 5. The apertures 39' in said inclined wall are in registry with the upper open ends of the partition openings 68, said inclined wall finishing off the appearance of the carrier, and at the same time providing a retainer for the upper ends of the partition elements 65 and 66.

Said partition elements are constructed of any suitable material, and are preferably non-flexible and are secured to each other in any suitable fashion, as indicated in Fig. 7, to thereby form a unitary partition structure.

A slightly different form of partition structure 71 is shown in Fig. 8, which includes a pair of partitions, each of which includes the elongated circularly formed partition elements 73 and 74 arranged in opposed relation, and preferably interconnected as at points 75 to provide a rigid structure. These partition elements thereby define the golf club receiving elongated channels 76 for the storage of a plurality of clubs. The partition elements 71, similarly as the partition elements 64, are immovably secured within the body elements 11 and 12 in any suitable fashion, such as at the points 76 in Fig. 8 or the points 68' in Fig. 7.

As shown in Fig. 4 and within the upper storage compartment corresponding to hinged door 16, there is provided a storage rack for a plurality of golf balls, which includes a formed plate 77-78-79 secured at its opposite ends and by means of the plate extension 77 to the partition wall 49 as by the fasteners 77, as illustrated in Figs. 9, l and 11. The frame element 79 terminates in the elongated plate element 84, which extends across a portion of the storage space adjacent cover 16, the

marginal edges of plate 84, being inturned as at 85 and 86, Fig. 11, to suitably and retainingly engage a portion of the golf balls 87.

There is also provided at opposite ends of the frame at the corners between frame elements 77 and 78, an elongated Wire 80 whose opposite ends are angularly outturned forwardly towards the cover 16 as at 81, and the corresponding ends of elements 81, having inturned elements 82 at one end of the frame in aligned and opposed relation to the corresponding inturned elements 82 at the opposite end of the frame.

Interposed between the inturned elements 82 and receiving said inturned elements are a pair of cylindrical roller strips 83 and 83, which provide the upper and lower bounding edges of the ball storage device and which are adapted to flexibly and cooperatively receive a golf ball inserted inwardly of the frame between the said roller elements and the channel 84, whereby a series of golf balls may be removably stored as fully illustrated in Figs. 9, 10 and 11.

The storage compartment adjacent cover 16 and bounded by the partition 4950 may also be used for storing other articles which may be useful to a golfer. Likewise, the lower storage compartment adjacent the cover 43 and bounded by the partition wall 48 is also adapted to receive additional articles of equipment or clothing of the golfer.

By the above construction, there is provided a very useful golf club carrier or similar article, which is herein preferably constructed of fiber glass to render the same substantially indestructive, but which, however, could be constructed of other materials to still attain the objects of the present invention.

The present carrier is compact and light and with the foot 51 and the handle 33 collapsed and with the wheels pressed inwardly as in Fig. 23, the carrier occupies the minimum of space for storage.

The present construction when completed provides a unitary structure and an extremely useful device.

Having described my invention, reference should now be had to the claims which follow for determining the scope thereof.

I claim:

1. A golf club carrier comprising a rigid upright body open at its upper end, an axle transversely projected through and secured to the lower end of said body, wheels on the ends of said axle, an elongated formed partition secured within said body defining a plurality of elongated independent club receiving compartments, an elongated handle secured to one side of said body adjacent its upper end, said axle including an elongated open ended tube extending through and secured to said body, wheel mounting shafts supported at their free ends Within the opposite ends of said tubes and longitudinally slidable therein for inwardly contracting the Wheels into contact with said body when not in use, a foot pivotally joined at one end to the lower end of said body on its other side, the other end of said foot cooperating with said wheels for maintaining the body in substantially up right position, a pair of spring clips secured to said body in spaced relation and engageable with said foot for alternately retaining said foot in body supporting and in pivotally collapsed position upon the under-surface of said body, said partition consisting of a pair of interconnected opposed partition elements, each having a plurality of elongated outwardly directed hairpin formations in laterally spaced relation with their outer ends cooperable with the corresponding interior wall of said body defining compartments of substantially rectangular shape in cross-section.

2. A golfclub carrier comprising a rigid upright body open at its upper end, an axle transversely projected through and secured to the lower end of said body, wheels on the ends of said axle, an elongated formed partition secured Within said body defining a plurality of elongated independent club receiving compartments, an elongated handle secured to one side of said body adjacent its upper end, said axle including an elongated open-ended tube extending through and secured to said body, wheel mounting shafts supported at their free ends within the opposite ends of said tubes and longitudinally sli'dable therein for inwardly contracting the wheels into contact with said body when not in use, a foot pivotally joined at one end to the lower end of said body on its other side, the other end of said foot cooperating with said wheels for maintaining the body in substantially upright position, a pair of spring clips secured to said body in spaced relation and engageable with said foot for alternately retaining said foot in body supporting and in pivotally collapsed position upon the under surface of said body, said partition consisting of a pair of elongated partition elements, each includ ing a pair of opposed elongated strips formed into a series of laterally spaced outwardly projecting semi-circular members with corresponding end portions of said members secured together to form a series of elongated compartments of circular cross-section, portions of said partition elements being secured to interior portions of said body.

3. A golf club carrier comprising a rigid upright body open at its upper end, an axle transversely projected through and secured to the lower end of said body, wheels on the ends of said axle, an elongated formed partition,

secured within said body defining a plurality of elongated independent club receiving compartments, an elongated handle securedto one side of said body adjacent its upper end, said axle including an elongated open-ended tube extending through and secured to said body, wheel mounting shafts supported at their free ends within the opposite ends of said tubes and longitudinally slidable therein for inwardly contracting the wheels into contact with said body when not in use, a foot pivotally joined at one end to the lower end of said body on its other side, the other end of said foot cooperating with said wheels for maintaining the body in substantially upright position, a pair of spring clips secured to said body in spaced relation and engageable with said foot for alternately retaining said foot in body supporting and in pivotally collapsed position upon the under surface of said body, said partition consisting of a pair of interconnected opposed partition elements, each having a plurality of elongated outwardly directed hairpin formations in laterally spaced relation with their outer ends cooperable with the corresponding interior wall of said body defining compartments of sub stanti-ally rectangular shape in cross-section, said body upon one side towards its upper end having an outwardly projecting formation tapered downwardly and inwardly towards the lower end of said body, an upright storage compartment forming partition secured within said body upon one side of said elongated partition spaced from the interior surface of said formation and with the lower end of said upright partition projecting normally outward to the interior wall of said formation, said formation being cut-away defining an opening to said storage compartment, and a cover insaid opening conforming to the shape of said formation and hinged thereto.

4. A golf club carrier comprising a rigid upright body open at its upper end, an axle transversely projected through and secured to the lower end of said body, wheels on the ends of said axle, an elongated formed partition secured within said body defining a plurality of elongated independent club receiving compartments, an elongated handle secured to one side of said body adjacent its upper end, said body upon one side towards its upper end having an outwardly projecting formation tapered downwardly and inwardly towards the lower end of said body, an up right storage compartment forming partition secured with in said body upon one side of said elongated partition spaced from the interior surface of said formation and with the lower end of said upright'partition projecting normally outward to the interior wall of said formation, said formation being cut-away defining an opening to said storage compartment, and a cover in said opening conforming to the shape of said formation and hinged thereto, said body upon its other side adjacent its lower end having an outwardly projecting formation merging at its,

lower end with the lower end of said body, an upright partition within said latter formation secured to said elongated partition defining a storage compartment within said second formation, said latter formation being cut-away defining an opening in said latter storage compartment, and a cover in said opening conforming to the shape of said latter formation and hinged thereto.

5. A golf club carrier comprising a rigid upright body open at its upper end, an axle transversely projected through and secured to the lower end of said body, wheels on the ends of said axle, an elongated formed partition secured within said body defining a plurality of elongated independent club receiving compartments, an elongated handle secured to one side of said body adjacent its upper end, said body consisting of a pair of hollowed-out opposed body elements of substantially U-shape in horizontal cross-section, one of said body elements having a continuous marginal rim on both sides and at its lower end which projects laterally outward beyond the corresponding walls of said body element adapted to cooperatively receive the corresponding marginal edges of the other body element secured therein, a hollow formed cap positioned and secured over the upper ends of said body elements, the upper open end of said cap lying in a plane at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of the body, and a vertically apertured end plate arranged at the same acute angle and secured within the cap inwardly of its end hearing upon said partition, with the apertures in said plate corresponding in shape with the cross-sectional shape of the respective club compartments.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 286,114 Carr Oct. 2, 1883 2,256,521 Kirkpatrick Sept. 23, 1941 2,520,803 Heath Aug. 29, 1950 2,538,374 May Jan. 16, 1951 2,551,009 Kaltenbach May 1, 1951 2,556,814 Love June 12, 1951 2,629,609 Wilson Feb. 24, 1953 2,681,810 Lowinski June 22, 1954 

